Galileo Galilei was a very smart scientist, math mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He did many experiments in the 1600's that went against Aristotle's claims. Aristotle was a greek philosopher who came up with many answers to explain many questions about the universe, and things that occur on the earth. Many of Aristotle's claims were supported by the Catholic church at the time, and if you went against the claims Aristotle made, it was a heresy, which was what Galileo did. Galileo was a very outspoken person who always asked questions and tried to make others do the same. Galileo was a very brilliant student and was very intelligent. Since many of his own claims went against Aristotle and the church, he encountered many conflicts throughout his life because many people were not open to new ideas and refused to believe him. For example, Aristotle had made a claim that the heavier an object, the faster it fell. Galileo disagreed with that and knew it was false, at the time it was 1591 and he was teaching at the university of Pisa, so he decided to go at the very top of the leaning tower of Pisa and he dropped two cannonballs of different weights and proved that they fell at the same speed. At the time people were still not ready to question Aristotle, but that did not stop Galileo, he continued to run experiments and prove to the world that Aristotle was wrong on many things and believe him.
The leaning tower of Pisa expirement
What Galieo believed the solar system looked like, this was Copernicus's theory which disagreed with the church
Aristotle's view of the universe that Galileo did not support
Moon Observations: Galileo and Aristotle disagreed on many different things concerning the world we live in. One of Aristotle's claims was that the moon was a perfect sphere. Galileo strongly disagreed, and had evidence. He would look through his telescope and see mountains, bumps and craters. He knew Aristotle was wrong and that the moon was not perfect sphere, but the people of the church refused to agree with Galileo or even look through his telescope to see it it was true.
moon crater on the top of the moon
Moon crater at the bottom of the moon
Moon animation: November 27,30, December 2,4 (December 4th is the skinniest and november 27th the fullest)
Jupiter and its moons:
Galileo Used his telescope to study many things. Galileo saw that there were dots near jupiter that disappeared every once in a while and that seemed to move. He thought they were fixed stars but the discovered that they were moons orbiting Jupiter. This would mean that not all objects went around earth which went against Aristotle's claims and in what the church believed. Galileo named the moons after the Grand Duke Cosimo II, his boss.
Jupiter animation DATES:November 18-21 2010
Jupiter and its Moons Date: feb.2.2011
Saturn's rings:
It was 1610 and Galileo was observing the planet, saturn with his telescope. He began to see to two rings at the corners of the planet. He could not decipher what they were. At first he thought they were two moons, but then in 1612 he saw that the moons were not there. In 1614 he saw that the two moons had returned. He began to do some critical thinking and came to a final conclusion that they were arms of some sort belonging to the planet saturn.
Saturn and its rings Date: Feb.1.2011
Sunspots on the sun: Galileo had just made a telescope that would let him study the sky. One day he pointed his telescope towards the sun and began to see something. Galileo noticed that the sun had spots. He began to study the sun more frequently and saw that the spots were moving over time. The spots on the sun could only mean that all things in the universe were perfect. One of Galileo's rivals, Christoph Scheiner, thought that the spots on the sun were just other planets orbiting the sun. Galileo knew that couldn't be true, for one reason, these spots changed shapes and moved at a constant rate around the sun. Galileo just knew that this could only mean that the sun had spots, meaning that the sun was not perfect and that the sun rotated at a steady rate. The sun having spots went against Aristotle's claim that everything in the universe was perfect, and yet again Aristotle was wrong about something else, and Galileo had proved him wrong.
The sun on March 4, 2011
Sun and sunspots on March 4, 2011
Venus has phases:
One day Galileo received a letter from one of his previous students, named Benedetto Castelli. He told Galileo that if Nicholas Copernicus's theory of how the planets orbited the sun then Venus, should show phases like the moon. Galileo began to study Venus and over time he began to notice that venus did show phases. The hypothesis that Benedetto Castelli was correct and now that gave more evidence that Copernicus was right about the earth not being the center of the universe.
Introduction:
Galileo Galilei was a very smart scientist, math mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He did many experiments in the 1600's that went against Aristotle's claims. Aristotle was a greek philosopher who came up with many answers to explain many questions about the universe, and things that occur on the earth. Many of Aristotle's claims were supported by the Catholic church at the time, and if you went against the claims Aristotle made, it was a heresy, which was what Galileo did. Galileo was a very outspoken person who always asked questions and tried to make others do the same. Galileo was a very brilliant student and was very intelligent. Since many of his own claims went against Aristotle and the church, he encountered many conflicts throughout his life because many people were not open to new ideas and refused to believe him. For example, Aristotle had made a claim that the heavier an object, the faster it fell. Galileo disagreed with that and knew it was false, at the time it was 1591 and he was teaching at the university of Pisa, so he decided to go at the very top of the leaning tower of Pisa and he dropped two cannonballs of different weights and proved that they fell at the same speed. At the time people were still not ready to question Aristotle, but that did not stop Galileo, he continued to run experiments and prove to the world that Aristotle was wrong on many things and believe him.
Moon Observations:
Galileo and Aristotle disagreed on many different things concerning the world we live in. One of Aristotle's claims was that the moon was a perfect sphere. Galileo strongly disagreed, and had evidence. He would look through his telescope and see mountains, bumps and craters. He knew Aristotle was wrong and that the moon was not perfect sphere, but the people of the church refused to agree with Galileo or even look through his telescope to see it it was true.
Jupiter and its moons:
Galileo Used his telescope to study many things. Galileo saw that there were dots near jupiter that disappeared every once in a while and that seemed to move. He thought they were fixed stars but the discovered that they were moons orbiting Jupiter. This would mean that not all objects went around earth which went against Aristotle's claims and in what the church believed. Galileo named the moons after the Grand Duke Cosimo II, his boss.
Saturn's rings:
It was 1610 and Galileo was observing the planet, saturn with his telescope. He began to see to two rings at the corners of the planet. He could not decipher what they were. At first he thought they were two moons, but then in 1612 he saw that the moons were not there. In 1614 he saw that the two moons had returned. He began to do some critical thinking and came to a final conclusion that they were arms of some sort belonging to the planet saturn.
Sunspots on the sun:
Galileo had just made a telescope that would let him study the sky. One day he pointed his telescope towards the sun and began to see something. Galileo noticed that the sun had spots. He began to study the sun more frequently and saw that the spots were moving over time. The spots on the sun could only mean that all things in the universe were perfect. One of Galileo's rivals, Christoph Scheiner, thought that the spots on the sun were just other planets orbiting the sun. Galileo knew that couldn't be true, for one reason, these spots changed shapes and moved at a constant rate around the sun. Galileo just knew that this could only mean that the sun had spots, meaning that the sun was not perfect and that the sun rotated at a steady rate. The sun having spots went against Aristotle's claim that everything in the universe was perfect, and yet again Aristotle was wrong about something else, and Galileo had proved him wrong.
Venus has phases:
One day Galileo received a letter from one of his previous students, named Benedetto Castelli. He told Galileo that if Nicholas Copernicus's theory of how the planets orbited the sun then Venus, should show phases like the moon. Galileo began to study Venus and over time he began to notice that venus did show phases. The hypothesis that Benedetto Castelli was correct and now that gave more evidence that Copernicus was right about the earth not being the center of the universe.
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